News

GAMA Engages with EASA on eVTOL

• 02 Jan 2019 10:00 AM
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On Nov. 14, 2018, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) announced that it had conducted two days of meetings with European regulators on the development of eVTOL aircraft and technologies. According to the press release, “Thirty senior eVTOL company figures from eight countries met with EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency), the European Commission and SESAR JU (Single European Sky ATM Research Joint Undertaking) over two days in Cologne and Brussels to discuss this burgeoning sector of the aviation industry.”

VerdeGo Expands Partnerships

• 02 Jan 2019 09:54 AM
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On Nov. 6, VerdeGo Aero, headquartered in the Research Park at the Daytona Beach campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, announced that it would be providing its Integrated Distributed Electric Propulsion (IDEP) technology platform to enable future hybrid and battery-electric variants of the Transcend Air Vy 400 aircraft.

NEXA and VFS Initiate UAM Study

• 02 Jan 2019 09:52 AM
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In October, NEXA Advisors and the Vertical Flight Society announced the prospectus for a new study, "Urban Air Mobility (UAM) — Economics and Global Markets." This groundbreaking study will cover market and economic forecasts from 2020 to 2040 for 70 metropolitan areas, including technologies, policies, markets, infrastructure and economics. NEXA Advisors, a NEXA Capital company and the lead underwriting sponsor, has a well-known record of performing “multi-client” research for the aerospace sector.

NASA Embraces Urban Air Mobility

• 02 Jan 2019 08:41 AM
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On Nov. 1–2, more than 400 representatives from government, industry and academia gathered in Seattle, Washington, to attend an industry day marking the launch of NASA’s UAM Grand Challenge plan, which is designed to provide an integrated vehicle and airspace operational environment for use as a “proving ground” for UAM aircraft developers.

Stand on the Shoulders of Giants

• 01 Jan 2019 08:36 AM
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The Electric VTOL News website now catalogs more than 130 eVTOL aircraft concepts — from the silly to the serious — and is an essential reference for developers and those following this exciting new domain. What information and references are available are included on the website. Concepts are generally publicized to attract interest, investment, talent and/or customers. Some of the innovative eVTOL concepts are backed by extensive research, while others are only notional with their feasibility still to be determined. 

Astro's Elroy Blasts Off

• 06 Nov 2018 05:13 AM
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Astro Aerospace holds the distinction of being one of a handful of electric aircraft developers in the world to have successfully flown a piloted electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. (More details on Astro and links to more resources are available at www.eVTOL.news/passenger-drone.)

Joby Expands in Monterey County

• 03 Sep 2018 04:14 PM
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On Aug. 21, the city council of Marina, California, gave its approval for Joby Aviation to move into two buildings at the Marina Municipal Airport where, according to the Monterey County Weekly, “ they will set about designing and building prototypes of small, electric planes that take off and land vertically, travel faster and more quietly than a helicopter and, according to Joby, do it more safely.”

Opener BlackFly Debuts at Oshkosh

• 01 Sep 2018 01:56 PM
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On July 12, Opener shocked the world by announcing that its BlackFly was the first US- and Canadian-qualified fixed-wing ultralight eVTOL. The company showed stunning video and off-the-charts performance. Here’s the inside story.

On Oct. 5, 2011, Canadian engineer and entrepreneur Marcus Leng flew an eight-rotor tandem-wing electric aircraft from the front yard of his house and became convinced that electric vertical flight had a great future. This aircraft — initially dubbed the “SkyKar Rebel” — was apparently the world’s first fixed-wing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) flight (see www.evtol.news/evtol-timeline).

The EAA AirVenture VTOL Adventure

• 30 Aug 2018 01:28 PM
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Vertiflite attended the world’s largest annual gathering of aviation enthusiasts in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to report on the latest developments in vertical flight for the experimental and general aviation market.

The Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual AirVenture fly-in and convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was a showcase for conventional rotorcraft and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, with no fewer than eight prototype eVTOL aircraft displayed by five innovative companies and more than 50 rotorcraft showcased by manufacturers, operators and collectors.

Electric VTOL is Taking Off. Beware the Hyper-Hype Cycle.

• 30 Aug 2018 11:50 AM
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One of the reasons why members of the nascent helicopter community decided in early 1943 to establish the American Helicopter Society was because they didn’t feel that they were being taken seriously by the aviation establishment.